The Earth Fights Back

Chapter 6

49 6 he subsequent meetings of the IRDI were hot but not inspiring. Many ideas were proposed but none of them even measured up to the previous ones. The brains of the members seemed to have become empty, if not tired. To guarantee success, Mobuh made it a point of attending all their meetings. This constant presence, meant to bolster the thinking capacities of the professors, did not seem to be helping in any way. It was Fulumfuchong who finally surfaced with an unexpected idea. When he asked for the floor, it was quickly given to him but with mixed feelings. While assuming that he was certainly coming up with an idea similar to the useless ones that had been rejected, there was still some glimmer of hope that this time, it might be a winner. “Instead of making war,” Fulumfuchong said, “let us make peace.” “What?” everybody said in surprise. “Let’s look at it this way,” replied Fulumfuchong. “To wage a war or offensive of any type, we must muster enough force to sack the earth at lightning speed. From past experience, the earthlings have proven that they have the capacity to resist and quickly develop a counter measure to all our attempts at flattening them”. If we give them the slightest breathing space, Mungongoh stands the risk of an unexpected riposte from the earthlings, which might end in disaster for Mungongoh.” There was a murmur of shock all around. “May the king forgive you for having such thoughts, let alone saying them out loud.” Mobuh finally managed to say. T 50 “I mean it” continued Fulumfuchong apparently unperturbed. “We could rather go into a relationship with the earth and carry out trade. That will be far better than going in for an expensive offensive with an uncertain outcome. Mungongoh history gives a clear example of how it is better to make peace, not war. All of you here are aware of the fact that if we did not have a reasonable and peaceful king during the period of the big bang in Mars, we would have perished along with the other kingdoms that were ruled by rapacious monarchs.” “You seem to be giving the impression that we are all wasting our time here. You are forgetting the fact that we have been commissioned by the king to look for the best way of taking over the earth without destroying it, so that Mungongoh citizens transfer there. Are you aware of the fact that what you are saying is treason? “We have virtually exhausted all our strategies that could kill all humans without laying waste the earth. We have used epidemics and monstrous ideas that have all failed. It is equally quite clear that it is not possible to provoke a large scale conventional war, a war that would not involve the use of weapons of mass destruction. If only we could provoke a lasting worldwide conflict, limited to the type of weapons used in the days of Chaka the Zulu, but fought with the violence that could only be witnessed in their hell, then we would succeed in wiping out the earthlings, while everything else remains intact. As you see however, such a war at a global scale is not possible. On the other hand, the earthlings have enough nuclear power to fight back and destroy us if they only knew where we are.” Fulumfuchong was sure that he had convinced most of the members of the IRD as to the futility of continuing with the attempt to conquer the earth, but he was disappointed. 51 “They don’t know where we are and their fire power cannot come anywhere close to us,” said Funkuin. “Maybe,” said Fulumfuchong, “but you can never tell what these earthlings can come up with. Don’t forget that they have crude observatories that they keep improving upon every day.” “Are you suggesting that one day they will be able to observe us the way we observe them?” asked Yivissi. “Why not?” answered Fulumfuchong. “Even if that could happen,” said Funkuin, “it would be a long way from now. By then we would already be the occupants of the earth.” “How do you hope to achieve this?” asked Fulumfuchong. “What was the IRDI created for?” asked Fumkuim aggressively “We are working on it and will soon have a concrete idea on how to take over the earth.” “You think so...